What is HODL

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1m March 23, 2023

HODL is a crypto meme term derived from a mispelling word "hold". It is commonly used by cryptocurrency investors that refuse to sell their cryptocurrency regardless of the price rise or drop. HODL was later retrofitted to be an acronym (backronym) for "Hold On for Dear Life" (originally a song by Adam Melchor) and refers to not selling, even during strong market volatility and poor market performance.

HODL was originally a spelling mistake by a user named "GameKyuubi" on BitcoinTalk in 2013. In the original BitcoinTalk thread titled "I AM HODLING," GameKyuubi wrote:

I type d that tyitle twice because I knew it was wrong the first time. Still wrong. w/e. GF's out at a lesbian bar, BTC crashing WHY AM I HOLDING? I'LL TELL YOU WHY. It's because I'm a bad trader and I KNOW I'M A BAD TRADER.

HODL has since become a strategy used by people who admit they do not have the skills to do short-term trades - such as scalping, day trading, or swing trading. The term HODL has also inspired the creation of a similar term often, “BUIDL”, which is commonly used by the cryptocurrency community to refer to the many kinds of applications that are being built within the blockchain industry.